"We like to think of Yngwie Malmsteen as the sweep innovator, and of course he is. But Eric is really equally so, even though he approaches it from a totally different perspective.

"Amazingly, these perspectives meet in the middle—the 'rolling threes' picking mechanic is essentially identical to Yngwie’s approach to three note-per-string scale playing, just applied to pentatonic sequences instead.

"The clip we’re examining is from Johnson's landmark 1988 Austin City Limits performance, a tour de force of impossibly precise pentatonic picking."

Enjoy! For more stories and videos by Grady, check out RELATED CONTENT just below the photo of Johnson.

Here's more info about Grady:

Troy Grady is the creator of Cracking the Code, a documentary series with a unique analytical approach to understanding guitar technique. Melding archival footage, in-depth interviews, painstakingly crafted animation and custom soundtrack, it’s a pop-science investigation of an age-old mystery: Why are some players seemingly super-powered?